Spring Cleaning: It’s not just for your closet

Every year, like clockwork, I begin my Spring Cleaning ritual. Because I have the world’s smallest closet I have to rotate my clothes as the seasons change. I typically do this in both fall and spring. It’s actually great, because I use it as an opportunity to go through all of the clothes I never even wore that year and determine if they are worth keeping – or if it’s time to donate or potentially sell the items. It’s not easy, and often takes up most of a weekend as I struggle with the idea of letting something go. That said, I’m almost always really happy with the end result.

I recently realized that spring cleaning isn’t something that needs to be limited to my closet, or even my house. But that I myself could benefit from a spring cleaning – or cleansing as it turns out. With warm weather and Hawaiian vacations fast approaching, my body could use a reboot as well. And so I embarked on a 28 detox cleanse and gave up just about everything in an effort to rid my body of the toxins that had built up over the past year.

Now, I will say, this is a difficult thing to do. The program I was on included a personal coach, a Facebook support network, and products that came to my house with clear directions for use. For 28 days I drank protein shakes for two of my meals (usually breakfast or lunch) and generally had a salad with lean meat for dinner. I had to give up salad dressing – including balsamic vinegar (my go-to) – along with just about everything else. That’s right – no alcohol, no sugar, no white flour, no corn, and no coffee.

In the first week I lost 9.4 pounds! It was amazing. I know much of that was likely water weight, but some of it was toxins built up in my system – and better yet some of it was fat. Now the goal of the detox isn’t to lose weight, it’s just a nice side effect, and not everyone has the same results. Over the four weeks I was on the program I lost a total of 14.6 pounds and 8.5 inches from my stomach and waist. Even better than my weight loss, I feel amazing. I have increased energy and am sleeping better than I ever have before. My digestive system is back on track and I’ve eliminated foods that I know cause me to have issues.

All in all, it was a great investment (it wasn’t cheap) and I’m very happy with the results.